A New Flame
by So many taken usernames
Summary: Sora had never met anyone quite like Yang, and Yang had never met anyone quite like Sora. It was quite apparent that the two were falling head over heels in love with each other. The rules might keep them apart, but Yang never did like rules, and Sora just never cared.
1. A Boy From Beyond

Yang Xiao Long was on another boring mission. So far, team RWBY hadn't gotten an official mission together. Yang was mainly just exterminating Grimm that were threatening local towns and whatnot, and her teammates had practice missions of their own of a similar nature. That meant Yang was dealing with more grunts. Beowolves and Ursa were the only enemies she'd seen for a while that weren't on diagrams, diagrams which she didn't even pay attention to anyway. She walked along the forest road, going back to the ship that would take her to Beacon and end her boredom. She could probably have some fun with Ruby afterwards, assuming her younger sister hadn't been sent on any small training missions. The blonde sighed and slammed her fist into a tree, shattering the bark. So far, after initiation, Beacon had failed to impress her. She muttered a curse and kept walking. However, something stopped her. She had passed a tree with shattered bark, but she knew it couldn't have been the one she'd hit. The blonde paused and looked around.

"If you're another Beowolf, just go away," Yang sighed. She got no answer. The Beowolves would have responded to her voice and tried to attack already.

"And don't think any Ursa get a free pass. You can all piss off too." Again, no reply. The trees above her suddenly became imposing, and Yang grew more aware of the shadow they cast. However, the trees shadows weren't the only ones in the forest. Small creatures with claws, antenna, and yellow eyes stalked out of the shadows cast by the trees.

"You know what? I really would have preferred a Beowolf," Yang muttered. She lazily kicked the first monster that hurled itself at her, and it knocked into another. One jumped for her face, and she immediately shot out her arm. Ember Celica passed through the dark being and disintegrated it. Another pounced at Yang, but she grabbed it and threw it into its companions. Shadows burst as the impact destroyed the monsters. She looked behind her, and a larger version of the small shadows appeared, with longer antenna and a muscular figure. It ran at Yang, and she grinned.

"Maybe this won't be so bad," she said, ducking under the monster's first swipe. She then shot her fist into its stomach and knocked it off of its feet. However, it was still relatively close to the ground. With a mighty punch, she knocked away the monster and it disintegrated into shadow as it hit the dirt. Behind her, another attacked, but she twirled into the air and kicked it into a tree. She then shot herself at it with Ember Celica and elbowed it in the face, quickly turning to grab the monster and slam it into the ground. It disintegrated like the others.

"Really? And I got all excited, too! Let's end this quick so I can get back to my adorable little sister," Yang said, charging at a group of large shadows. She kicked and twisted, her leg catching at least three of the monsters. She kicked them away and turned to punch another with a straight jab, then crouched and preformed a sweeping kick on one that attacked from the ground. It tripped, and as it fell, she punched it into the three she'd kicked. They disintegrated. Yang turned to find one flat on the ground, like a piece of paper. She stomped on it, and nothing happened.

"So you can do more than get punched in the face, huh?" She snarled, angry at how her time was wasted. She jumped back as the monster sprung from the ground, and only lasted for a second before she punched it in the face. Yang clanked her gauntlets together to signify that she was done, and walked away from the monsters. At least, she tried to.

* * *

Sora was smiling broadly, walking about in this strange new world. Donald and Goofy had opted to stay at the Gummi Ship and try to get it working again. He promised he'd be back soon, and he intended to. There were no Heartless in sight, but he just wanted to see what this new world was like. So far, all he'd seen were forest roads. They were calming, but it wasn't anything new. The spiky-haired teen walked with his hands resting on his neck, happily looking into the sky. It was nice, just being able to relax and focus on just being in the present, as opposed to being constantly worried about his friends. It could get tiring to worry so much, especially for a generally carefree boy like Sora. As he walked, he closed his eyes. That was a bad move. He heard a snap and felt a shadow pass over him, but didn't have time to get out of the way as a tree fell on the poor keyblade wielder with a loud crash.

"Ow..." He groaned, pushing off the tree. He summoned his keyblade in a flash of light, a simple gray and yellow oversized key. He ran towards the forest, when he realized that part of it wasn't a forest at all. A green Heartless with trees growing out of it rampaged through the trees. Vines fell from its arms and legs, and it had feet and legs made of stone. On top of it, he could see a blonde girl punching it repeatedly in the head. The vines on it shot at her, and she flipped back.

"Don't try anything funny with those vines. I know how this stuff goes down in anime!" Behind her, Sora ran.

"Need a hand?" He asked. The girl looked at him as he charged. Sora propelled himself in the air and twirled his keyblade. Fire swirled around him and caught the Heartless in the head. It roared and Sora fell behind it. He dashed between its legs and slashed, twisting and turning with the keyblade as his enemy tried unsuccessfully squash him. He did a good deal of damage to its stone armor, and then he slammed the key into it. Stone shattered and its leg broke. Sora jumped back and aimed the keyblade at it.

"Blizzard!" He shouted, and a large ice crystal shot out from the key and slammed into the Heartless' other leg. He ran towards it, but the vines shot at the keyblade wielder. He slashed up and then slammed the key down, cutting through two, but more wrapped around his arms and legs. Behind him, the girl fired a red orb at it from her gauntlets. The vines exploded and Sora was free to escape.

"The ice is cracking!" He shouted.

"I'm on it!" The girl ran towards the ice and, with a powerful punch, shattered it. The Heartless fell and she continued to punch it. Sora ran in and struck with the keyblade, and the two dashed and flipped around it, attacking every area they could get to. The Heartless tried getting up, but succumbed to the onslaught. A strangely colored heart rose from the disintegrating Heartless, and the two warriors high-fived.

* * *

"So...what's your name?" Yang asked with a hint of seductiveness in her voice. Whoever this boy was, he was quite attractive, even if his hair looked ridiculous. However, he didn't seem to pick up on her signals.

"Sora."

"What's with the giant key? What is that even for?"

"Fighting the Heartless."

"And what are they?"

"The things you just fought."

"And?"

"The manifestation of darkness in people's hearts." Yang frowned.

"But those things look like Grimm." This time, Sora frowned.

"Grimm?"

"Creatures hell-bent on destroying humanity."

"Wait...do Grimm have emotions?" Sora asked. Yang was puzzled by the question.

"No. They just kill." she answered. The spiky-haired teen looked confused.

"That sounds like Heartless to me."

"Yeah, well, they're not Heartless or whatever you call them. And how'd those things get here, anyway? Heartless don't exist in this world. I didn't even know they existed in the first place until they started attacking me in the woods."

"...So you don't know about other worlds?" Yang blinked.

"Other what?"

"Other worlds. The Heartless invade other words and destroy them. It's my job to stop them," Sora said proudly.

"Huh. Say...do you want to go somewhere with me?" She asked. Sora shook his head.

"I have friends I promised I'd get back to." Yang smiled.

"They can wait, can't they?" Sora put his hand to his chin and looked contemplative while Yang waited for his answer.

"How about we just go see them first? Maybe they can come with us." The blonde nodded and Sora ran ahead. Yang followed.

"Score," she muttered happily under her breath.

* * *

The ship was smoking. Made of largely red and yellow blocks, Yang thought it looked like a child's toy. However, it had clearly been used to get Sora and his friends to Vytal.

"Donald! Goofy! Where are you guys!?" Sora shouted. Yang almost chuckled.

"Really? Their names are Donald and Goofy?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" A high-pitched voice shot out from the wreckage of the ship. Yang resisted the urge not to strangle who the voice came from.

"Gawrsh, Sora, you've been gone for a while! We got worried something might've happened to ya!" Another voice said. This one was slightly more tolerable than the other.

"I'm fine. And I've brought a friend. Her name's...uh..." Sora, in his friendship-induced stupor, had forgotten to ask his new friend's name.

"Yang Xiao Long."

"Right. Yang...whatever. Anyway, guys, are you gonna come out and meet her? We're going to a place called Beacon Academy." Sora was unable to pronounce Yang's surname. With a grudging sigh, Donald stepped out. He was followed by Goofy. The two were covered in soot and grime, but that wasn't what surprised the blonde. What surprised her was that the two were fauna.

"Sora, you said you didn't come from this world."

"I don't."

"But if that's true, then why do you have two fauna traveling with you?" Donald made an annoyed clicking noise with his tongue.

"We're not fauna," he said.

"What's a fawn-uh?" Goofy asked.

"Fauna. They're people with...animal parts," Yang explained bluntly. She wasn't feeling ready to explain the racial tension to Sora and his friends, but she knew, in the back of her mind, that Sora, Donald, and Goofy should know about the state of Vytal.

"Guys...in this world, fauna are discriminated against by humans because they look different," Yang said simply, unwilling to explain further. The issue of race could make even her tense and awkward.

"Can't humans and faunas just talk it out?" Sora asked. In that instant, Yang was reminded of her sister. She didn't know anyone else who was that wonderfully naive.

"You can't just talk out a problem this big. It's been going on for a long time, this discrimination. And, for your own safety, I'd appreciate it if you two stayed at the Gummi Ship," she said to Donald and Goofy.

"What?!" Sora exclaimed in protest. Donald made a loud yell of surprise, but Goofy said nothing.

"...I'm sorry about this. I really, really am. But this is for your own good. You'd be mercilessly taunted and be the butt of a lot of jokes. And some...extremists might even go beyond words. Most people have a hard time accepting fauna who only have animal ears. For you, who look completely like animals, it'd be a nightmare," Yang said. Sora sighed, and threw in his opinion.

"If what Yang says is true, then it's best if you stay. Please." Donald scoffed.

"Don't we get a say in this?" He asked testily. Yang smiled slightly at his straightforwardness. However, Goofy calmed him down.

"They're right, Donald. We don't wanna mess with this world. We should stay here," he said. Donald sighed, and the walked over to Sora. The three embraced in a group hug.

"Stay safe out there, Sora," his friends said.

"I've got Yang with me. What's the worst that could happen?" He asked confidently. Yang puffed out her chest to try and look impressive.

"Maybe I could get you two to come in a different ship. You know, so you could get there without any trouble," she said. Goofy smiled at her.

"Alright!" He cheered. As Sora and Yang walked away, Donald called out.

"Sora!"

"What is it?"

"Don't meddle too much! We have to get out of here soon." Goofy laughed.

"Ya mean muddle, Donald!" The duck sighed.

"Goofy...the word is meddle, not muddle!" Yang and Sora laughed, making the blonde feel all the worse about leaving Donald and Goofy behind.

* * *

Yang was downcast. She felt sad for having to part Sora from Donald and Goofy, especially considering how close the three were. She looked down and tried to think of something to say, but for one of the few times in her life, Yang Xiao Long was confused, and now, more than ever, hated the racism of Vytal. In a feeble apology, she tried to alleviate some of her guilt.

"I'm sorry about back there," she said. Sora grinned and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I forgive you...under one condition: No sad faces! The Friendship Train runs on happy faces, so give me your best one! Come on, let's see that smile!" He cheered. Yang grinned, despite herself. She knew now, more than ever, that she had found a friend in the spiky-haired teen.

"You really are something."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Sora answered. Yang then brushed the hair out of her face and smiled, her mouth taking the shape of a banana. Her eyes seemed to bug out of her head as they rolled around in their sockets. Sora doubled over with laughter.

"Wha-What is that?!"

"It's my happy face. Take it or leave it," Yang said, pretending to be offended.

"I'll take it," Sora replied.

* * *

The two made their way to the small gray ship. They clambered into it and found that despite its small stature, it was very spacey to make room for passengers. In the cockpit, there was a small, skinny man sitting at a control board. He looked back and his eyes found Sora.

"Ms. Long. This ship doesn't allow passengers that aren't registered for flight. I don't think this young man is even a student at Beacon," he said. Yang smiled sweetly and walked over to the pilot. As she neared him, her hand shot from her side and grabbed the man's shirt collar.

"Listen up. You might have the training and the fancy control panel, but I'm the one in charge of this ship. What I say goes. And I say that this young man is going to Beacon with us. Are we clear?" She asked with a dangerously quiet tone. Her lovely smile only added to her frightening appearance. Yang wasn't trying to hide anything. She didn't say anything threatening, but anyone watching could tell that she was directly warning him not to mess with her.

"Y-Y-Yes, Ms. Long! Of course!" The pilot hastily got the ship started and it flew into the air. Yang walked back to Sora, who was gaping at her.

"Wow."

"I know," she said. Sora smiled.

"You must have a lot of friends," he said.

"Of course I do. Why do you figure?" She asked him.

"Because no one wants to be your enemy," the spiky-haired teen replied.

"Hell yeah."

* * *

Beacon lay on the horizon, standing stoically like a proud warrior, of which it had trained many. The tall, imposing castles reminded Sora of Hollow Bastion, and like Hollow Bastion, it was one of the grandest sights he had ever beheld. He felt the familiar feeling well up in him, the feeling he got whenever he visited a new world. The feeling of excitement, thrill, and hope. This time, however, was different. This time, he had Yang Xiao Long with him.

"Beacon's pretty impressive, right? It's the greatest school in the world, where's the harm in looking like it?" She asked. Sora kept looking out the window. Yang knew he wasn't even listening, caught in a trance brought on by the scenery of Beacon Academy. She snapped her fingers in front of his face and he blinked before turning to look at Yang, smiling sheepishly.

"Sorry," he said, rubbing his neck.

"Stay sharp, Sora. You're gonna have to impress some powerful people." The boy twirled his keyblade, which appeared in his hand with a flash of light.

"That shouldn't be too hard," he said without worry.

"It's not. Just a word of advice: If you see a guy with a coffee mug and gray hair, don't mess with the mug. Just don't. Not even if your life depends on it," Yang warned him. He grinned.

"I'll try to remember that." As he spoke, the ship began to land. The hum of the engine ceased as it touched the ground. Yang waved at the nervous pilot, who jumped in his seat. Sora followed the blonde out, and the ship flew away immediately, the pilot being very eager to get away from Yang.

"Wow. So this is a school? I wonder if I could enroll," Sora mused.

"How old are you?" Asked Yang.

"15."

"The enrollment age is 17. Of course, if you're badass enough, you could get in early. That's what happened to my sister, Ruby." Sora twirled his keyblade again.

"I'm a keyblade wielder, what could be cooler than that?"

"Sora, no one knows what that is."

"Fair enough. So, how about we meet these powerful people you were talking about?" As Sora started to walk, Yang grabbed his hood and spun him around.

"Hey!" He shouted, startled.

"So we're friends, huh?"

"Of course." Yang leaned in closer to Sora. He could smell her hair product from the short distance they stood from each other.

"Being just friends doesn't really...satisfy me," Yang said. Her tongue ran over her lips, and Sora's eyes widened. She let him go and walked on ahead, leaving the boy to stand there, shocked.

"What was that?" He muttered to himself, rattled. As he followed the blonde, he noticed that his mind kept drifting to how close she had brought her lips to his. Yang smiled as she looked behind her.

"Got him," she said.

* * *

A hooded man stood in the shadows of Vale. He was a ghost, a nobody. He was someone who, as far as Vale was concerned, didn't exist. But he was all too real, and so was the danger that followed him in his wake. Not that anyone would have known by looking at him.

"I can't believe they changed orders on me again! What am I, their whipping boy? And what's with them sending me out all the time? I keep telling them they're picking the wrong guy for this stuff, but no one every listens to little old Demyx, do they? No. Axel's all like 'it builds character.' But does it? No! Man, I could really use a massage. Maybe Vale has some good spots. Yeah, the keyblade wielder can wait! It's not like he's going anywhere," the man said, stepping out of the shadows. People were unnerved by his black coat, but he simply smiled and turned to the nearest person he could find.

"Excuse me, miss. Where could I find a clothing shop? You know, to get normal clothes?" Demyx asked.

"T-That way. Just go straight and three shops to the left, you should find one that sells clothes," she replied.

"Thank you!" He said happily, strolling off to where the woman pointed.

"Today is gonna be a good day after all," he noted.

* * *

**I HAD A LENGTHY CONVERSATION WITH ANOTHER USER, WHO INTRODUCED ME TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF SOYANG, WHICH IS BASICALLY A SORA/YANG PAIRING. I WAS ORIGINALLY GOING TO DO RIKU/YANG, BUT AFTER CHECKING OUT TUMBLR, I DECIDED THAT MY FAVORITE BLONDE BADASS AND MY FAVORITE SPIKY-HAIRED KEYBLADE WIELDER WOULD GO VERY WELL TOGETHER. BUT DON'T EXPECT PURE ROMANCE! I WANT AN ACTUAL PLOT TO GO ALONG WITH THIS STORY. EXPECT TO SEE ADAM, ROMAN TORCHWICK, AND (AS YOU ALREADY KNOW) DEMYX, MY FAVORITE ORGANIZATION 13 MEMBER. I JUST REALLY LIKE HOW DIFFERENT HE IS FROM ALL THE REST OF THE ORGANIZATION. IT SEEMS TO ME THAT DEMYX IS MOSTLY ALONG FOR THE RIDE, AND HE'S THE ONE MEMBER WHO JUST LIKES HANGING OUT AND HAVING FUN AS OPPOSED TO GETTING A HEART. HE'S NOT CONNIVING AND SCHEMING, HE JUST DOES WHAT HE'S TOLD. HIS REAL PASSION LIES WITH RELAXING WITH HIS SITAR.**

**I'D REALLY LIKE TO THANK KEYS OF FATE, THE USER WHO GAVE ME THIS WONDERFUL IDEA. HOPEFULLY, THIS'LL BE A GOOD STORY.**


	2. Class Is In Session

"Uh, Yang?" Sora asked.

"Yes, Sora?" She replied sweetly.

"Thinking back, things could have gone a lot better." Sora and Yang sat in the office of Glynda Goodwitch, surrounded by papers and books all shelved with precision that it seemed a robot had done it. Glynda herself was looking very intimidating, glaring down at the two friends. She held her riding crop in one hand and kept smacking it against the other in a threatening motion. As Yang had anticipated, she wasn't happy that Sora was at Beacon. As Yang hadn't anticipated, Glynda had actually found out that he was at Beacon. Yang wanted to sneak Sora through the school and get to Ozpin without incident, but she found herself being found out by the Huntress, who seemed to have the eyes of an eagle. If she hadn't had an almost inhuman eye for detail, Yang surely would have succeeded in her plan.

"How exactly did you get this boy into Beacon, Ms. Long?" Glynda asked testily.

"I intimidated the pilot."

"You did what?!"

"You know, he was all like 'and why should I let him on the ship?' And then I was like, 'I'll give you five reasons, blockhead.' And then I held up my fist and, well, you know. Stuff happened." Glynda put a hand to her head. She looked like she had a migraine.

"You are aware that this 'stuff' that you did is against the rules, correct?"

"Uh...maybe," Yang said innocently.

"And you...Sora. Why did you allow this? Surely, even without knowledge of what Ms. Long was doing, common sense would be to intervene and come to the rescue of the pilot," Glynda asked. Sora shrugged.

"She wasn't gonna hurt him. Besides, I really, really need to talk with this Ozpin guy," he said. Glynda gritted her teeth.

"This 'Ozpin guy' is the headmaster of Beacon, and he doesn't have time to talk to a stranger who came to Beacon without permission. Such an offense can be dealt with by myself."

"But I gotta tell him about the Heartless!" Sora protested. Glynda narrowed her eyes.

"Heartless?"

"They look like Grimm, but they're not. They invade worlds and stuff," Yang explained poorly.

"What she means to say is that the Heartless, beings born from the darkness in people's hearts, entered your world and are trying to destroy it. I have to stop them," Sora told Glynda, explaining things better.

"Heartless? What exactly do these Heartless look like?" Glynda asked. She did know that beings that were thought to be a new species of Grimm had recently started attacking cities. While relatively weak for the most part, there were those who had strength that no ordinary Grimm, or even some of the more powerful ones, possessed. She knew it was probably nothing, and that Yang and Sora, whoever he was, were playing some kind of prank on her. But his odd dress and mention of Heartless made her, just for a second, wonder if he was right, and if there was anything she'd learned from Ozpin, it was that you can often find the most unexpected things in the unlikeliest of people.

"Well, they vary. One of the most common kind of Heartless is small, completely black, and has claws and antenna. There are a lot of others that have a lot of different appearances and abilities, but most of them have a red heart symbol on their body somewhere," Sora said, thinking hard before answering. At the description, Glynda's stony facade faltered. She'd seen enemies of that description. Part of her doubted Sora, but it was most likely that he was, in fact, telling the truth.

"Professor Ozpin needs to see you two," Glynda said bluntly. Yang pumped her fist into the air, and Sora jumped off of his chair and grinned widely.

"Really? Alright!" He turned to Yang and the two high-fived.

"And she didn't even see the keyblade," Yang said. She then frowned, as did Sora.

"Keyblade?" Glynda queried.

"...We really need to start thinking about these things," Sora sighed.

"Where's the fun in that?" Yang asked, her trademark grin coming back. Sora couldn't help but give her a grin in return.

* * *

"So, you say your name is Sora and that these new monsters we've been encountering aren't a new species of Grimm, but are instead a group of entities known as Heartless, and that these Heartless are created from the darkness in the hearts of human beings?" Ozpin asked.

"Yeah. That, and there's the stuff with the keyblade. You know, the whole thing where I save worlds with it," Sora added. Ozpin smiled.

"I've heard crazier things from crazier people. Sora, do you have any proof of this?" Yang and Sora shrugged.

"No proof? I see. This is quite a predicament. I want to believe you, but without proof, I can do nothing," Ozpin said sympathetically.

"Come on! Can't you make an exception or something?" Yang moaned.

"No I cannot, Ms. Long. I require evidence, even just a little."

"How about the keyblade? You saw me summon it," Sora tried. The keyblade was held in his hand, and he twirled it for effect.

"I'm not too interested in the keyblade. I'd rather know more about these Heartless," Ozpin replied. Sora fell back into his seat, the keyblade vanishing in a flash of light. Yang was already sitting down, her head propped up on her palm. The headmaster of Beacon looked at them. He was certainly a disarming man. He had a kind smile, old glasses, and a well-worn mug that he grabbed tightly but comfortably, as if he'd done so for so long that it became almost second nature to him.

"Sora? Ms. Long?" He prompted. They still said nothing. Sora's thoughts turned towards Donald and Goofy. Maybe they could help him. Of course, he'd have to get them to Beacon first, and that seemed fairly difficult, considering the fact that Yang didn't think it was a good idea for people to see them. He wondered if they could use the Gummi Ship to get to Beacon, and that's when he remembered. He did have proof.

"The Ansem Reports!" Sora shouted, jumping from his seat. Yang got up as well, startled.

"Huh? Ansem what?" She asked. Ozpin smiled.

"And there's the proof. What are these Ansem Reports?"

"A man named Ansem studied the Heartless and wrote papers about them," Sora explained to an intrigued Ozpin.

"And what do these papers say?" He asked Sora.

"Uh...Heartless...something about the keyblade...okay, I didn't really read them. Research papers are pretty boring," the spiky-haired boy admitted, shrugging nonchalantly. Yang grinned.

"No matter. I don't think I'd be satisfied with simply taking your word, anyway. If you can bring me these papers, I can ensure that you stay at Beacon until your...situation improves." Sora grabbed Ozpin's open hand and pulled it from the table, shaking it roughly.

"Yes!" Alright! Thanks, Ozpin!" He shouted. The headmaster gently pried his hand from Sora's grasp. Behind the two, Yang was laughing. Glynda seethed at the informality, but said nothing.

"Are these reports in the Gummi Ship?" Yang asked after a short silence. Sora looked at her and sighed.

"They are. Hey, do you think you could find a brightly-colored ship and bring it to Beacon in secret?" He asked Ozpin.

"Why?"

"Uh...Yang, can I tell them?" Sora asked. Yang nodded.

"They're nice," she said.

"Alright. So, I have friends who apparently look like fauna, and Yang told me about...how they're treated. I want you to bring them to the school without anyone knowing. They're at the ship I mentioned, and the papers are inside it."

"But if they look like fauna, why not just bring them? At Beacon, the worst that can happen is that they'll be teased by the students. While unfortunate, it's surely not something to hide from," Ozpin noted.

"They look...well, a lot more like animals than the fauna we're used to. I don't know what people would think," Yang explained.

"That's quite thoughtful of you, Ms. Long. I shall have them brought here tonight, when we shall see if you have the proof you say you have."

* * *

Donald and Goofy sat in the Gummi Ship, looking for the Ansem Reports. Sora was with them, and Yang had to go to bed, as she had a mandatory curfew.

"Where are these darned papers?" Donald muttered, kicking around debris. Goofy was searching higher up, and Sora was checking the usual compartments. In one of them, he found a paopu fruit. Sora pocketed it, hoping no one saw. He then kept looking.

"So...how was the wait?" He asked.

"Donald really wanted you to get back. He kept asking me how much time had passed," Goofy explained.

"You sure took your time, Sora," Donald muttered.

"Sorry, sorry. This wasn't like the other worlds where I could just waltz in with the keyblade and do whatever I wanted. Things are going to be different this time, guys."

"Hm," Donald said, not easy to forgive.

"Come on, Donald! I tried!" Sora protested.

"Then you should have tried harder," was the testy reply. Donald moved a block covering a small space underneath the cockpit, and found a whole lot of nothing.

"Rats!" He kicked it and it bounced off of the wall and hit Goofy in the head.

"Ow!" The dog yelped, swinging his shield and conking it into Sora's head, as the spiky-haired teen happened to be close by. Sora stumbled back into a pile of debris. He fell and papers flew up. Donald ran towards them, shouting with glee, when he rammed into Goofy in his hurry to get to Sora. Goofy fell and Donald was right behind him. Sora tried to scramble up but he slipped on a Gummi piece and fell on his face. Goofy landed on top of him and Donald fell on Goofy. More papers flew up, and Sora groaned.

"Gummi piece...between my legs..." He squeaked pitifully. Goofy rolled off of him and Donald fell off of Goofy, landing on his head.

"Watch it, Goofy!"

"Sorry, Donald!"

"What about me? Ow ow ow..." Sora muttered.

"Get over it, you big baby," Donald said absentmindedly, picking up the papers that had fallen. Sure enough, they were the Ansem Reports. Goofy cheered along with Donald, and Sora moaned.

"I'll get you for this one, Donald..." He said, rolling around on the ground. Sora painfully got up and looked at the papers over Donald's shoulder, well aware of the towering figure of Goofy that loomed over him.

"Here they are!" Donald said proudly. Sora grabbed them and glared at the duck, who glared back.

"Now now, no violins!" Goofy chastised.

"It's violence, Goofy," Donald corrected.

* * *

Ozpin looked over the papers as Sora, Donald, and Goofy watched eagerly. He adjusted his glasses and made noises when he found a particularly interesting passage. The three friends were looking very hopeful. Donald's mouth hung slightly open, Goofy was holding his shield close like a pillow, and Sora was grinning with anticipation, holding an ice pack in between his legs. After a while, Ozpin turned to them.

"Interesting. Very interesting. After reading these papers, I have decided upon a course of action." The three friends didn't speak. They waited for Ozpin to talk first.

"Donald. Goofy. You two shall stay in a more...secluded area of Beacon along with Sora. However, during the day, I want him to be doing something other than simply residing at Beacon. I want you, Sora, to teach a class on the Heartless. I will be paying you the same rate I pay the other professors," he said. Sora balked, dropping the ice pack in surprise.

"W-W-What...?" He stuttered.

"Sora? A teacher?!" Donald exclaimed.

"That's great!" Goofy cheered. Ozpin smiled at the three.

"I'm...I'm gonna teach? About Heartless?"

"Yes you are."

"So...I'm gonna have to get lectures ready and stuff?"

"Yes you are."

"Am I gonna have to grade papers?"

"Indeed." Sora lowered his head and sighed, his upper body drooping towards the ground.

"And you're sure I have to do this?"

"Who better to teach about Heartless than one who's task it is to fight them?" Ozpin asked. Sora nodded, caving to his logic.

"We can help, Sora!" Goofy assured him.

"Yeah! After all, you are gonna need it," Donald added on.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Sora asked. The three friends begin to half-argue and half-support each other, and Ozpin smiled.

"This is going to be very interesting..."

* * *

"So this is the mystery class," Pyrrha Nikos noted. She had striking red hair and gentle but powerful green eyes. Next to her, a blonde boy sighed.

"Man, knowing what class we're gonna have is bad enough. This could be some weird thing, like the study of Grimm mating habits or something for all we know," he moaned. Next to him, Yang chuckled.

"Heh. Good one, lady killer."

"Can you stop calling me that?"

"Nope."

"Well...maybe it'll be cool? Maybe we can build our own weapons like at Signal?" A girl in a red cloak with crimson hair to match wondered.

"Ruby, I don't think that's it," Yang said. Ruby huffed.

"I can dream, Yang. Besides, wouldn't that be fun?"

"We already have weapons, though," the blonde boy reminded her.

"Jaune, you too? I'm just saying that understanding a weapon isn't just about knowing what to do with it, okay? It would be good to know how it really works," Ruby told him. Behind them, a girl with a large black bow who was reading a book spoke up. She somehow managed to navigate through the throngs of students despite having her face buried in her novel.

"It probably has to do with the boy Yang brought in," she said.

"Oh yeah, I did hear about that. Glynda was pretty, uh...not happy," Jaune sighed.

"Is she ever?" Yang sighed. As the friends sat down next to each other, they were joined by a white-haired girl, a boy with black hair with a purple streak through it, and an orange-haired girl who just couldn't stop moving.

"I wonder who it is? Maybe it's Ozpin. Maybe it's one of us! Ren, are you hiding something from me?" She asked the black-haired boy.

"Nora, none of the students are secretly a professor. Calm down," he said.

"That's exactly what an undercover professor would say!" As Nora spoke, a noise could be heard from behind the desk. A flash of light could barely be made out from it. Yang grinned. She knew who the teacher was, at least. From behind the desk, Sora flipped out. He landed on it and kicked aside random papers that wafted to the floor. He held the keyblade triumphantly above him, and Yang cheered.

"Go Sora!" Flames, ice crystals, and sparks of lightning flitted around the keyblade, creating a small but elegant magic show. It vanished, and Sora turned to his class.

"Alright. My legs hurt from crouching behind that desk for so long, so I'd really like it if you gave me your attention. Now, I am your professor, Sora. You can call me Sora, or professor Sora, or Sora the Great and Mighty. I'm here to teach you about...Heartless!"

* * *

**AND THE SECOND CHAPTER IS DONE! NOW THAT THE STAGE IS SET AND THE PLOT IS ESTABLISHED, I CAN BEGIN WITH ALL THE FORMING OF FRIENDSHIPS, THE COMEDY, AND SORA AND YANG'S BONDING AS THE CUTEST COUPLE AT BEACON. AS USUAL, I'D LIKE FEEDBACK, ESPECIALLY CONCERNING HOW THE PLOT OF THE STORY TIES INTO THE KH UNIVERSE. I WANT TO KNOW IF I MADE ANY MISTAKES OR ANYTHING.**


	3. Heartless 101

Sora looked at his students, grinning eagerly. He was ready to pass on his knowledge and have fun while doing it. After all, Sora hadn't backed down from being the keyblade wielder, and he could certainly teach a class on an area he knew a lot about. He lowered his keyblade, jumped off of his desk and waited for a few seconds. He took those seconds to take in the shock and awe of his students. He'd made his desired impression, now it was time to do his job.

"Any questions?" He asked. Immediately, a white-haired girl shot her hand into the air. Sora noticed she was sitting near Yang and the rest of team RWBY, so he assumed she was one of them. However, she looked far different from her relaxed teammates.

"Yeah, uh, whatever your name is?" He prompted. A few students cringed. They knew that Sora was in for it, speaking to Weiss Schnee in such a manner. However, she respected Sora's authority as teacher, at least for that moment, and didn't yell at him. However, when she did speak, her voice was cold and dripping with malice. The oblivious professor didn't seem to pick up on it one bit.

"Excuse me, but...how do you not know who I am? Even people from other kingdoms know of my family and myself," Weiss asked.

"I come from another world, a world far far away," Sora explained.

"Another what?!" Some of the students exclaimed. Whoever this spiky-haired teen was, he had certainly cemented his spot as one of the most talked-about topics at Beacon for at least a month, if not more. He still didn't seem to care how his words affected his students.

"Yeah, another world. But that's a class for another time. Uh, girl in white, what did you want to ask me?" Sora asked. Weiss seethed.

"My name is Weiss Schnee, and I want to know exactly what your qualifications are for teaching a class at Beacon Academy, the most prestigious school in Vytal," she said. Sora leaned against his desk. He didn't stop flashing that relaxed grin of his at the student body, which angered Weiss, although Yang wasn't complaining. She was eager to know how Sora would deal with Weiss.

"Well, Weiss, I spent a year fighting the Heartless. I know what they can do and what they are. I can teach you how to fight them, and believe me, you need to fight them. I know that these Grimm you're so afraid of are out to destroy humanity. The Heartless are out to destroy everything. They go around and try to destroy all the worlds and have the darkness consume them, and they know how to get to these other worlds, including yours. I'm the only chance you've got at saving your world, but you, as Hunters and Huntresses, have to hold the Heartless at bay and protect the people who live in your world," Sora said. His grin faded and he grew serious. A year ago, he would have spoken with a smile. But not anymore. Sora knew what the Heartless could do, what they had already done. They weren't to be taken lightly. Weiss' angry expression faded. Not even she could ignore how serious the boy sounded as he spoke.

"...I understand that the situation is dire, but isn't there anyone better-suited to teach this? Perhaps Ozpin could, as he seems to know about these creatures already," Weiss said, sounding less rude. However, she still wasn't convinced that Sora had what it took to teach a class.

"Look, Weiss, I'm what you've got to work with. Take it or leave it," was the reply.

"Aren't professors supposed to be respectful towards their students?" Weiss asked, shocked at the audacity of the spiky-haired teen. Sora stuck out his tongue in response.

"I'll teach how I want. Yeah, I don't have any physical evidence that I know what I'm doing, but sometimes, you've just gotta have a little faith. Do you trust me?" Sora asked, his grin returning. Weiss didn't trust him.

"How old are you?" She asked.

"15," Sora replied. Weiss sighed.

"So you're the same age as Ruby. You're not even old enough to be a student here!" She moaned in exasperation.

"Yeah, but he's cute," Yang retorted. Weiss shot her an angry glare, and Sora looked surprised.

"Cute?" He murmured to himself. Yang did know how to make him feel simultaneously happy and awkward. He got up from his position leaning against the desk and stood tall.

"How about this, Weiss: I'll talk and trust you to listen. If you know I believe in you...maybe you can believe in me," Sora said kindly. He then walked to where the papers he'd knocked from the desk lay, and picked them up. He ruffled them a bit and held them to the class.

* * *

"Alright, class. You see these papers? Yeah, they've got a lot of boring words on them and stuff. Luckily for you, we're not gonna use these papers. Instead, I'm gonna give you...a puppet show!" Sora shouted, pulling a Heartless puppet from his pocket. It was the small, black kind that Yang had encountered in the forest.

"You see this? Yang should know what this is. It's called a Shadow, and it's the weakest Heartless around. The only problem is, it likes to travel around in groups, and in groups, it can be a pain, sometimes even an actual threat. So we have to learn how to deal with these Heartless, right? Well, first of all, one swing from your trusty weapon should take it out. It likes to slash with its claws and jump at you, but it's slow and stupid and it's easy to kill. But if they're in groups, they can distract you and bigger and tougher Heartless can attack, or it can swarm you with all its little friends," Sora said. As he spoke, he made the puppet walk and dance. Some students laughed, others groaned, and Weiss just buried her face in her hands. However, she still heard Sora's words, and he seemed to know what he was talking about. She then decided to look up and saw Sora put the puppet down and stomp on it.

"The only really cool thing it can do is that it can go super flat. Just. Like. This!" Sora spat as he stomped on the puppet, trying to get it to go flat. After considering his handiwork to be done, he tried smacking it with the keyblade. The puppet was smashed in half, and Sora rubbed his neck in embarrassment.

"Eh...in a real battle, that wouldn't have worked. When they get all flat, they can crawl around on the ground and nothing can hurt them. The only drawback is that they take a long time to get un-flattified, so you can hit them really easily, unless you're super slow," the keyblade wielder presented proudly. Yang raised her hand.

"How long did it take you to make that?" She asked, not bothering to wait for Sora to let her speak.

"A few hours. I had some friends help me out," he replied. He meant Donald and Goofy, of course. They'd gone through five copies before they found one they liked. Sora then walked behind the desk and pulled out a projector, placing it on the desk. He pulled a chord by the blackboard that decorated the wall behind him, and a movie screen fell from a roll at the top of the room.

"This is a basic class, so nothing too crazy's gonna be discussed today. For now, I'm gonna give you a brief history of Heartless and what they do. I made a little movie to demonstrate, so here you go!" He let the projector run and several students clapped. The screen faded to black and showed large, uneven letters that said 'a history of Heartless.' It then faded to Sora, who was wearing a monocle and a top hat in a silly attempt to look smart. Some students chuckled.

"Ahem. I am your professor, Sora, and I am here to teach you about the Heartless! The Heartless are creatures who, as the name suggests, have no heart. They are the manifestation of the darkness of the hearts of human beings, and they are created when the darkness of a person's heart consumes them. There are some Heartless that are just completely black, but the majority are Heartless with this symbol," movie Sora said, showing a picture of a red, heart-shaped symbol.

"These Heartless vary in appearance and have many different abilities. Both types, while they look and fight differently, have the same intentions. Their sole purpose is to consume hearts, like yours, and create more Heartless, and the most sought after heart is the heart that lies within all of the worlds. Yes, the worlds do have hearts, and if the Heartless were to consume them, they'd be taken over by darkness and destroyed. The keyblade wielder, who is me, can keep the Heartless from doing this, as well as defeat the more effectively than non-keyblade wielders like yourselves. The Heartless use the keyblade as a homing device and track down the wielder, and they try to defeat said wielder, who, as I mentioned, is me. Allow me to demonstrate," movie Sora said. The real Sora grinned, looking at all of the intrigued faces of his students. Even Weiss was interested. But what caught his attention was a girl in a red hood who sat next to Yang. She looked enthralled like most, but there was something different in her eyes. There was a determination, admiration, and aspiration that surprised Sora. He made a note to talk to her later.

* * *

The class was surprised by what they saw next. Sora held the keyblade and was facing a giant Shadow costume. It made groaning noises and walked awkwardly, as if the upper and lower body of the costume were being controlled by different people. They were; Yang instantly knew that Donald and Goofy were in the costume.

"You see, class, Heartless like these will try to attack people and consume their hearts. As Hunters and Huntresses, you have to defeat them like so," movie Sora said, turning to the Heartless.

"Back, evil Heartless!" He shouted.

"Never!" It answered in an annoying high-pitched voice.

"For the record, Heartless don't actually talk. Well, almost all Heartless don't talk, but that's a story for another day," real Sora said. The class was laughing at full-force, not bothering to hide their amusement behind chuckles and smiles.

"Then I will defeat you! Hyah!" Movie Sora said dramatically, hitting the Heartless. It fell with an angry yelp, but quickly got back into character.

"Curses, keyblade wielder! You shall not escape us!" It said no more, ceasing to move. The projector ended its reel, and Sora turned it off, pulling the movie screen back up.

"Okay! That was a brief history of Heartless. Now, I'm gonna talk about some more boring stuff because at this point I got too lazy to plan anything else. Listen up, because this'll be on some sort of test, I don't really know yet. Glynda knows, but I don't. Anyway, Heartless are..." It was at this point that the girl in the red hood lost interest, and the rest of the class went on as Sora talked about bigger versions of Shadows and other similar Heartless.

* * *

Team RWBY walked slowly to their next class. Sora had ended Heartless 101, as he called it, early. Weiss wasn't happy with that.

"How much do you think we actually learned in that class?" She asked Yang, who shrugged.

"Who cares? That was awesome. I really liked the movie. Sora looked so cute in his little hat!" She replied. Weiss narrowed her eyes at the blonde.

"It was childish and foolish. He spent his time working on these silly puppets and failed to prepare for what he'd say. He only seemed to have planned for half of the class!" She complained.

"He had good information, Weiss. Even you need to admit that. He is an expert on Heartless, after all," Blake, the black-haired girl, reminded Weiss, who relented on that topic.

"Yes, he did have useful information on how to defeat the Shadows and Neo-Shadows, but he distracted students and put more emphasis on how he spoke than on what he was speaking about. This boy is not a teacher," she complained.

"He's the closest thing we have to one, and the only Heartless expert around to boot. Besides, he's gonna save Vale, right? That is so cool!" Ruby, the girl in the red cloak, exclaimed.

"How do we know any of that is true, though? It all sounds far-fetched," Weiss retorted.

"Ozpin knows what he's doing, and he personally appointed Sora as the teacher of Heartless 101. He trusted you to listen to him, it's time you trust him to tell you something worth listening to," Yang reminded.

"Also, he's pretty much a hero, like in a story!" Ruby added.

"He's a child," Weiss corrected.

"You're being the child here, Weiss," Blake said calmly, almost smiling at her friend's outburst.

"Child?! I simply want to know that my education is in good hands, and if I don't feel that I'm getting the knowledge I need, I have every right to complain!"

"And Sora has every right to complain about a certain uncooperative student," Blake said. Weiss turned bright red. Ruby giggled.

"She sure got you, Weiss!...I mean...uh...Sora wouldn't do that..." The cloaked girl said meekly as Weiss stared her down. Yang pulled Ruby away from her gaze.

"How about you stop staring down my sister, okay?" She asked. However, it wasn't a question. It was a threat.

"I'm simply concerned for my well-being," Weiss stated.

"But you said he had good information, right?" Ruby asked timidly.

"I did, but I don't think it's being presented in the proper manner. I'm to learn how to defeat these Heartless from Sora, aren't I? If I'm not getting the aid I need, I can't trust him," Weiss replied.

"Can't, or won't?" Blake asked. She knew exactly how to simultaneously push Weiss' buttons while make the girl see sense, which Yang and Ruby were very thankful for. Weiss had no choice but to relent yet again to the black-haired girl.

"...Very well. I'll give him a chance. Are you happy? And Yang, I think that the teacher and student relationship rules still apply, regardless of age," Weiss said, walking away triumphantly. She knew she'd gotten in her parting shot.

"Yang? You like him?" Ruby asked, looking happy for her older sister. Blake simply smiled her usual enigmatic smile before following Weiss. Yang clenched her fists.

"I hate it when she gets in the last shot. And yeah, maybe I do like him."

"That's great!"

"Yeah, it is."

"But what about the rules?" Ruby asked, displaying a rare moment of foresight. Yang displayed a rare moment of foresight as well.

"Screw the rules, I have blonde hair."

* * *

Demyx found that he actually needed to do some research into other worlds before jumping into the relaxation phase. Munny wasn't accepted as currency, so the hapless Nobody found himself as a street performer. He made a large amount of Lien, the currency of Vytal, and then went off to buy his clothes. He'd gotten himself a baggy blue sweatshirt and jeans, and impulsively bought a red sweatshirt for Axel. He then went to a restaurant and found that his impulse buy didn't leave him with enough money to pay, so he simply did the old dine-and-dash trick he often employed in other worlds. This had left him with very little money and a criminal record, so street performing was no longer a money-making option. On top of it all, he had broken a sweat. In a fit of fear, he stole a bottle of water from a store and dumped it on his head. Demyx now found himself staring at a large TV in the center of the town, hoping they'd show something funny, not knowing that the TV was only for news. However, he did gleam some interesting information from it.

"Crime boss Roman Torchwick has managed to evade authorities yet again after robbing another Dust shop. What he wants is unclear, but the Vale Police Department are putting every man and woman on the manhunt for Torchwick and expect to bring him to justice soon. Back to you, Lisa." Demyx tuned out as a white-haired newswoman announced some cultural event.

"Of course! All I have to do is become a crime boss, and then I can get whatever I want! Maybe I can bump off Saix, always yelling at me for not doing work...I don't do work, Saix! Work is not how I roll! Playing the sitar is how I roll!" Demyx rambled, walking off into the night. As he entered a dark alley, he summoned his beloved sitar.

"Ah, my sitar...at least you understand me. Now, to pull off a big heist. Dance water dance!" Demyx strummed a melody on his sitar and a massive jet of water propelled him into the air.

"I'm doing this for you, Torchwick. Don't leave me hanging," he muttered, flying over the shocked citizens of Vale as he looked for a fancy store to rob.

* * *

**I'M THINKING OF MAKING SCENES WITH DEMYX A REGULAR THING. I SHOW WHAT'S GOING ON AT BEACON, AND THEN I GIVE A QUICK PEEK INTO THE LIFE OF MY FAVORITE ORGANIZATION XIII MEMBER. AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS THAT DEMYX, LIKE AXEL, DEVELOPED A HEART OF SORTS, OR AT LEAST DELUDED HIMSELF INTO BELIEVING HE DOES? HE FEELS SO DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF THE ORGANIZATION MEMBERS, EVEN WHEN HE THROWS ASIDE HIS EMOTIONAL DISGUISE. THAT'S WHY I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. UNLIKE THE REST OF THE ORGANIZATION, DEMYX LIVES FOR THE PRESENT AND VALUES THE LITTLE THINGS IN LIFE, LIKE HIS HAIR AND HIS SITAR. **

**ALSO, DID ANYONE GET MY NOT-SO-SUBTLE YU-GI-OH ABRIDGED REFERENCE? YANG IS SUCH A GREAT CHARACTER TO WRITE FOR BECAUSE SHE CAN SAY PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING AND IT WON'T BE OUT OF CHARACTER, AT LEAST NOT THAT MUCH. **


	4. A Peculiar Girl

"No no no no no no no no! Why did I think this was a good idea?!" Demyx moaned. His robbery hadn't gone well. Bursting into a jewelry store unannounced, from the roof, no less, and then proclaiming you were going to steal everything in the store was evidently not a good method of robbery. Demyx ran as the police chased him. His sitar swung in his hand, and he played a hurried note, creating a wave of water that knocked into some of the cops. However, there were still more, and Demyx needed to get far enough away so that he could leave Torchwick a little message that he was sure would make the news.

"They really picked the wrong guy for this!" The Melodious Nocturne whined, turning a corner.

"Freeze!" More police burst from the door in front of him, and he hurriedly took another exit.

"Please don't shoot me!" He exclaimed, running away at an even faster speed. This is what happened when you sent the laziest Organization member on a mission that involved delicate planning.

"Damn, he's fast!" A cop cursed. Demyx was indeed very fast. After so many years of running away, he'd grown to be among the fastest of the Organization members, going toe-to-toe with even Larxene, who he actually had to run from on numerous occasions. He heard gunfire and squealed in a high-pitched yelp, even higher-pitched than his normal screams. As he ran, a stroke of luck fell upon the hapless Nobody. He found an employees only door, and, after quickly knocking the door opposite of IT open with a blast of water, carefully opened the door and slunk through the doorway.

"That should distract them...now, for a little message..." Demyx mused, using a thin strip of water to carve a message into the wall of the room before knocking open the door and vanishing into a portal of darkness, leaving the police bemused and defeated. They looked into the employees only room, and found there a message. It read: "Can Roman Torchwick come out and play?"

* * *

Demyx panted as he leaned against the wall of the alley. He felt the sweat dripping from his brow and made a squealing noise before wiping it off hurriedly.

"Ah, not sweat! This sucks. I can't believe I actually broke a sweat! As if getting chased by mean cops wasn't enough...why do they even have to do their jobs anyway? What happened to the good old days of corruption?" Whined the Melodious Nocturne, making his way through the darkness, eager not to be seen.

* * *

Ruby licked her lips in anticipation of her next cookie binge. The cafeteria had restocked since last week, when she learned of the existence of her favorite desert and ate every last cookie at Beacon. Her friends knew it was coming. Even if she was being subtle, they knew Ruby well enough to understand her cravings. Weiss and Yang, personally, didn't support Ruby's diet, but Blake played along with a humorous twinkle in her eye.

"Alright Blake, you know the drill! We rehearsed this, so be ready! I ask for lots of cookies, then you ask for lost of cookies! They'll only serve me once because of last week, so, like I said, we need to be ready!" The red-cloaked girl whispered loudly to her black-haired friend. Blake nodded.

"Of course. Also, Weiss and Yang are giving us dirty looks," she said. Weiss had a frown curling at her lips, and Yang was outraged that Blake would let her little sister indulge herself in such unhealthy eating habits. She didn't want Ruby's gluttony enforced for fear that the girl would balloon out when she got older.

"I thought I could trust you, Blake!" Yang scolded.

"Ruby's team leader, what she says goes," Blake responded.

"This is incredibly unhealthy, Ruby. Are you sure you want to do this? Do you have any idea how hard you'll have to work to burn all of those calories? As a Huntress-in-training, you have to be in peak physical condition in order to combat the Grimm!" Weiss shouted in annoyance.

"I'll be fine, Weiss! My metabolism is faster than...something that's really fast! Don't worry, your team leader won't be put out of commission by cookies!" Ruby assured her friend with confidence. Weiss, despite her attempts to respect Ruby's authority, couldn't help but snap.

"How irresponsible! You cannot possibly get any more immature," she moaned. Ruby, however, had walked off. Blake trailed behind her, ignoring Yang's angry looks.

"Blake is so going down during training," the blonde muttered. Suddenly, she was interrupted from her dark thoughts of revenge by a familiar voice over the intercom.

"Hey, Ruby! It's me, Sora! I wanna see you in my office," the informal voice of Beacon's new professor rang out. Weiss sighed at how nonchalantly he spoke, bearing himself like a student who had somehow rigged the intercom rather than a professor with access to it. Ruby paled, giving her tray to Blake.

"Could you prepare some cookies for when I come back?" She asked sadly.

"You shouldn't even have to ask, Ruby," Blake said with a smile.

"Oh, also, you're not in trouble," Sora added, making Ruby's scared expression light up with her usual friendly smile. She ran off to Sora's office, wherever that might be, and left her three friends to wonder why Sora had called their leader to his office on such short notice.

* * *

Ruby, after opening random doors and finding nothing save for closets and other professor's offices, had finally come across Glynda Goodwitch, who had told the poor girl where she could find Sora's office. She opened the door with bravado and found Sora sleeping in his seat, his bulky shoes propped up on the wooden desk and knocking off papers and pencils. Ruby hesitantly tapped the professor's shoulder, and Sora snorted awake.

"Huh? What? Oh, Ruby! Sorry, I fell asleep," he apologized guiltily.

"It's fine, I fall asleep during class all the-I mean...you're forgiven! Heh heh heh..." Ruby laughed awkwardly, but Sora didn't seem to care.

"This isn't about how loudly you snored during class, but you were loud. What I want to ask you about is...why you were so interested during the first half of class?" He asked. Ruby sat down and looked at Sora determinedly.

"I...Yang used to read stories to me all the time. They were about, well, fairy tales. They had strong heroes, going off and saving the day from evil! I got really attached to them and, well...I'd kind of like to think that, as a Huntress, I could fight for a happy ending, just like in the stories...I know it sounds weird, but, well-" Sora cut Ruby off with a boisterous and unintentionally rude interruption.

"Really? So you're fighting for a happy ending for everyone?"

"Yeah..." As she spoke, she noticed a change in Sora. He looked more thoughtful than usual, as if he had realized something while Ruby was talking. However, he shook it off and grinned his normal grin.

"Then you'd better stop falling asleep during class," he teased.

"H-Hey! I don't try to, I just get really bored!" Ruby said hastily in her defense.

"Hey, relax! I'm joking!" Sora told her. Ruby smiled in relief.

"Anyway, I was listening to what you were saying and it felt really familiar. All this talk about saving worlds really reminded me of a fairy tale and...you seemed like the tale's hero. I mean, you have the keyblade and you go around saving worlds, so...I guess I got excited." Sora chuckled.

"Well, I don't do all the work. I've got friends who help me out all the time. I'd be dead without them," he said, grounding Ruby's flattering description.

"In the stories Yang read me, the hero saves the day without any help...I learned that reality's a lot different," she said, thinking about all the times that her teammates had bailed her out, especially the time when Weiss had saved her in the Emerald Forest, willing to put aside all of their differences from the greater good. Even as team leader, Ruby seemed to have the most to learn from her friends. Sora nodded, and quickly changed the subject.

"There's a lot of promise at Beacon, but in that class at that moment, I saw a determination in your eyes that I didn't see in any other student. I'm not a teacher, Ruby. That's obvious. I almost fell asleep from my own speech! But during that class, I had a gut reaction to your determination. I don't know why, but I just did. Look, this might be a bit crazy and I might be wrong, but I had the same feeling when you were talking to me about fairy tales, so now I know I have to follow it through. What I want to say is that I think you might have what it takes to wield the keyblade."

* * *

Ruby lay on her bed, made giddy by the events of that day. Yang looked at her intently, brimming with pride of her younger sister. Blake was reading a book, tuning out the talking, but still smiled at how excited the younger girl was. Weiss, who was under Ruby, balanced feelings of surprise, annoyance, and intrigue.

"And then, Sora said that I might be a keyblade wielder! I'm not kidding, he said it with a straight face and everything! I wonder if I have to do some ritual or something or if I just get a keyblade? Did Sora just get a keyblade, or did he have to work for it?" Ruby wondered, her thoughts making her words trail off into musings.

"That is so cool! You're gonna be the cat's pajamas around here, Ruby! People are gonna be all over you! Especially guys. Well, and some girls, but I don't think you swing that way," Yang congratulated.

"I know that I should be happy, and I am, but...it's really nerve-wracking. First of all, I came to Beacon two years early, which gets me enough attention as it is! I'm never gonna be able to be a normal girl with normal knees if I have a keyblade," Ruby replied.

"Why would you want to?There's nothing wrong with being unique," Blake said, still reading.

"Yeah, what she said! It's not like I bother hiding how awesome I am. Why should you?" Yang asked. Ruby opened her mouth, but Weiss answered for her.

"A normal life has a certain lure to it. People all over Beacon are living their normal lives. Nothing's special about them. If you see so many people doing one thing, one has to wonder how they'd react if someone broke the cycle and stood out," she said plainly.

"Weiss is right...I just don't want people to think I'm any different because...uh..." Ruby froze, unable to say the words that were forming on the tip of her tongue.

"Because you are different? Sis, just accept it and move on! Look at Sora, he goes around in his ridiculous getup and swings around an oversized key. And while you're be a student who got moved up two years, he's a professor that got moved up his entire education. And even if people look at you differently, your friends never will. We know you, Ruby, and we know that you're not going to change just because you have a different weapon. Besides, it's not like everyone is exactly the same. And if that doesn't console you, just know that I'm more than ready to introduce my fists to the face of anyone who's getting on your case," Yang assured her sister, who looked as if she was feeling a bit better.

"I don't understand how someone like you could possibly wield the keyblade, but if Sora actually knows what he's talking about, then I'll support you as a teammate...and as a friend," Weiss added on. Ruby got up and hung her head over the railing of the bunk bed she shared with the white-haired girl and beamed.

"Weiss...thank you."

"It's nothing," Weiss replied nonchalantly, although she was slightly annoyed by the prospect of Ruby gaining yet another honor that Weiss wasn't sure she deserved.

"Blake?" Yang asked.

"Banzai!" The black-haired girl shouted, raising her fist into the air while still looking at her book.

"Is that all you have to say?" Yang admonished.

"It's fine, Yang. She's just trying to read. She's the only one who supported my right to eat cookies, after all. I have no doubts!"

"I still haven't forgiven you for that," Yang said to Blake.

"Ruby didn't mind," was the reply.

* * *

"You told her what?!" Donald shouted in disbelief. Sora had three sleeping bags spread out on the floor, and he wrapped himself in one. Donald stood on top of his while Goofy was was trying to get into his, and was met with failure.

"That's great! Do ya think she'll get a keyblade soon?" Goofy asked as he pulled the sleeping bag over his head.

"Wrong way, Goofy," Donald sighed.

"I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not. But yeah, Donald, you heard me. I told her she might be a keyblade wielder," Sora challenged. Donald accepted that challenge, rising up to argue with Sora's baseless claim.

"You got a feeling and you decided that Ruby is a keyblade wielder? You don't have any proof!" Donald protested.

"Maybe the keyblade had the feeling and I just felt it. I don't know how it decides who can use it, but I do know that you need to be strong to use it. Not only did Ozpin make her the leader of team RWBY, she also came to Beacon two years early, so she's obviously pretty cool," Sora said nonchalantly.

"So she's physically strong. But what about her heart? Is it strong enough to fight the darkness?" Donald asked seriously, no longer arguing. Instead, he was asking calmly. He knew how strong one had to be to use a keyblade. Sora had shown him.

"All she wants is to make a happy ending for everyone. She told me about how she loves fairy tales and how she admires their heroes. If she's so serious about it, then I know that her heart is strong enough. Just look into her eyes. Ruby is a lot more than she seems," Sora answered.

"Like you?" Donald asked teasingly.

"What's that supposed to mean, huh?" Sora asked, playing along.

"Uh, guys?" Goofy spoke out to draw attention to his plight. He had the sleeping bag over his head, and his feet were sticking out from the bottom. Sora laughed and pulled the sleeping bag from off of Goofy's head.

"Thanks, Sora!"

"No problem."

"So are we going to sleep or do you want to talk more about this?" Donald asked Sora. Goofy answered.

"Sora can see the light in any heart! If he thinks Ruby can use the keyblade, I believe him. That's really all there is to it, so we should just get some sleep now," Sora grinned, clapping Goofy on the back. Donald sighed.

"Then I guess we'll see."

* * *

**FINISHED! I'M NOT SURE HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS CHAPTER, SO I'D REALLY LIKE ANY FEEDBACK PEOPLE HAVE ON HOW I HANDLED THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT THAT WAS GOING ON AND HOW THE DIALOGUE FELT TO THEM. IT GETS ACROSS THE POINT I WANTED TO MAKE, BUT I WANT TO KNOW IF PEOPLE ARE AS IMPRESSED BY IT AS THEY ARE THE OTHER CHAPTERS. **

**ALSO, IT SEEMS THAT THIS IS MY MOST POPULAR STORY. I DIDN'T JOIN THE SITE WITH THE INTENTION OF SWEEPING THE WORLD OFF OF ITS FEET WITH MY INCREDIBLE WRITING SKILLS, BUT I'M NOT GOING TO LIE: I REALLY WANT PEOPLE TO LIKE MY STORIES. EVERY TIME I GET A NEW REVIEW OR FOLLOW OR FAVORITE, IT FEELS LIKE KINGDOM HEARTS 3 JUST CAME OUT. THAT'S HOW HAPPY IT MAKES ME. LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, I WRITE FAN FICTION OUT OF WISH FULFILLMENT, TO SEE FRANCHISES AND CHARACTERS I LOVE MEET AND PORTRAY HOW I THINK THINGS WOULD GO DOWN, OR AT LEAST HOW I WANT THEM TO. HOWEVER, I'D BE LYING IF I SAID THAT I DIDN'T SOMETIMES CHECK TO SEE IF I GOT A NEW REVIEW, FOLLOW, OR FAVORITE ON ONE OF MY STORIES. BASICALLY, THE PEOPLE WHO READ THIS ARE AWESOME AND REALLY HELP OUT IN THE SELF-ESTEEM AREA OF MY LIFE. NOT ONLY DO I GET FEEDBACK, BUT I ALSO GET SOME GREAT SUGGESTIONS OF WHAT TO DO WITH THE STORY AND HOW I SHOULD PROCEED. IN FACT, THIS STORY WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN WRITTEN IF A FRIENDLY USER HADN'T GIVEN ME THE IDEA. ANYWAY, KEEP ON BEING AWESOME AND GIVING ME SUGGESTIONS, BECAUSE ALMOST EVERY SUGGESTION I GET IS A GOOD ONE!**


	5. Getting To Know The Good Witch

The music echoed throughout the club, seeming to shake the entire ground with every thumping noise the electronic noise produced. The thumping created a jolt that spread throughout Torchwick's body, and it allowed him to relax despite the loud and annoying music. Shouts, giggles, and slamming noises behind Torchwick joined the music, making for an even more unpleasant noise that, unfortunately, nullified the calming effects of the jolts. The white-coated man cringed and bent deeper over his phone, touching the screen to get to the news. On either side of him was a man in a completely black tuxedo, both of them concealing weapons on their person. On the popular news site, the Puffington Host, there was an article that caught Torchwick's eye. He raised an eyebrow and tapped the caption, and it took him to the page the article was on almost instantly. He scrolled down, quickly reading the digital text that popped up. After reading the article, Torchwick scrolled down even more to find a picture. In a wall, a message was etched, a message that intrigued and disturbed Torchwick.

"Can Roman Torchwick come out and play, huh? Why yes he can. Hey, hired help. Get the word to Crimson: I need her to find a guy in a black cloak who runs around with a sitar. Think you can manage?" He asked his goons dismissively, turned away from them as they nodded. He turned back to find them holding the same cellphone and pressing buttons at the same time. He sighed.

"Not both of you at the same time, idiots. Tell you what: one sends the message, the other can wait for Crimson here. Whichever one of you is contacting her, come with me," Torchwick got up and the henchman sending the message on his phone followed, leaving his companion to wait nervously for the mysterious Crimson. He had reason to be afraid. Not even Torchwick himself felt fully at ease working with her.

* * *

"You have a class to teach, Sora." The brown-haired boy was resting on the balcony of his room, staring at the bright blue sky, ready to waste the day away sleeping. It had been a while since he'd been able to do that, what with his new, hectic life as keyblade wielder. It was one of the things he missed about Destiny Islands. However, Glynda Goodwitch wouldn't tolerate Sora's laziness, and she made sure to get him up from his nap preparations. Sora bent his head back and stared at the uptight professor.

"What? Class?" He moaned.

"Yes, you have class every day of the week."

"What about weekends off?"

"We don't have time for weekends off. We are training students to fight for their lives, first and foremost. We cannot afford to be so leisurely," Glynda said, annoyed with Sora's ignorance of Beacon's schedule.

"Oh. Uh...when does my class start?" He asked.

"Now."

"Oh. Uh...well...I don't have anything planned."

"There's no time to plan, you have to get to class! Honestly, what was Professor Ozpin thinking when he hired you?!"

"Hey, I got through the first class, didn't I?!" Sora sighed, bolting up and running to the classroom. Glynda made a mental note to talk to Ozpin later. She could let Jaune Arc's admission to Beacon slide, as he proved himself in the Emerald Forest, but Sora didn't even have any plans for any class after his first. He was not qualified to teach, no matter who might say otherwise.

* * *

"Okay, class! Uh, sorry I'm late." Weiss groaned at Sora's tardiness and quick apology. However, the spiky-haired teen didn't seem to notice.

"Anyway, I think that it's time to talk more about the keyblade and how it's a more effective weapon against the Heartless than, say, a sword or a gun. Why do you need to know this? Because it's gonna be important. Basically, if you kill a Heartless with a normal weapon, it doesn't die. It's defeated, but not dead. It's recreated somewhere else, so even though you're not killing a Heartless, you can at least separate them, so don't think that your job loses its importance just because you're not fighting the Grimm. However, keyblade wielders can actually kill Heartless. What I'm saying is that the Heartless I kill stay dead. That's one of the reasons the keyblade wielder is so important," Sora concluded. He instinctively glanced at Ruby, who was trying her best to pay attention, as she knew that she was the one student who Sora was directing this information at. Weiss was helping her take notes, as were Yang and Blake.

"So..uh...well..." Sora sighed, putting a hand to his chin in a contemplative position. Weiss looked absolutely furious, ceasing to help Ruby and instead glaring daggers at Sora. She refused to allow him to waste her time with his lack of foresight. She was about to open her mouth to scold him when some students began to walk about, which was when Sora snapped out of his though process.

"Hey, wait! Don't leave! Glynda would never let me hear the end of it if someone actually left! Yeah, I might not have prepared because I thought weekends were off days, but hey! I can still talk for, uh...around an hour or so! Anyway, today's real topic is elements. Yeah, elements. Keyblade wielders can all use magic, like fire, thunder, blizzard, the works. Now I know that none of you can use magic, but you do have elemental abilities. Well, some of you do. Weiss! You can use fire and blizzard, right?" Sora asked, desperate not to get yelled at again.

"Ice, but yes," was the testy reply. Sora clapped, and Weiss sighed. Ruby, at this point, was losing interest and began to doodle on her paper. Yang poked her in between the eyes and she straightened up and began to focus to the best of her ability.

"Alright! Now, as I was saying, there are are Heartless who can use magic too, and I'm pretty sure you all know where this is going: that's right! Fire Heartless can't be hurt by fire, blizzard Heartless can't be hurt by blizzard and so on. Some Heartless can't even be affected by magic, period! Unfortunately, not all of you can use elemental attributes, and there are people who can't use them all. This is why teamwork is important. Now let me give you a scenario. Say, for example, team RWBY is fighting a pack of Heartless. Let me just draw them on the board..." Sora muttered, going over to the blackboard and drawing crude figures.

"Okay, Ruby's got her cloak, so let's make that flow a bit...she's got Crimson Rose in gun form..." Sora said to himself, drawing. He made Ruby's cloak comically large and drew a crude model of her weapon. She grinned.

"Why isn't my cloak that big, anyway?" She sighed.

"Because you'd trip on it in a fight and then you'd be killed," Blake said absentmindedly.

"...Good point," the younger girl sighed. Meanwhile, Sora was moving on to Weiss. He drew a crude fireball around her and made a few ice spikes for good measure. He then, in an audacious move that made the class laugh and Weiss nearly burst with rage, made the white-haired girl's face into a comical frown. Her mouth was like a semi-circle and her eyebrows were narrowed over her beady black eyes to make her look very, very angry. Sora even made an anime-style anger symbol on the side of her head.

"Why do I look so annoyed?!" She demanded, standing up hurriedly.

"I'm using your expression right now as the model for my drawing," Sora replied. Weiss glared at Sora and then at her team as they laughed next to her. Then, Sora drew Blake. He gave her a bow, Gambol Shroud's simplest form, and a playful grin.

"Looks about right," she said. Finally, he moved onto Yang.

"Okay...flowing blonde hair, gauntlets, uneven socks..." He reminded himself, finding that he turned over to look at Yang for more often than he needed to.

"Finished!" Sora said. However, Yang didn't agree.

"Why am I so flat?" She asked. At this, Sora turned red.

"Huh?" He was surprised by her question, and not eager to try and go back and draw what she was suggesting.

"I-It's a simple drawing, really-"

"No, it's not. If you can make Weiss' facial expression super accurate, you can do the same for my chest. Come on!"

"Let's just move on."

"I'm not letting this go!"

"...Fine." Reluctantly, Sora went back to the blackboard. When he was done, his face was an amusing shade of scarlet.

"That was mean, Yang," Ruby scolded.

"I know," the blonde said enthusiastically, amused at how Sora's expression mirrored Weiss'.

* * *

"And that's basically how it would play out," Sora said proudly. On the board, multiple Heartless drawings were crossed out. Each member of team RWBY had a speech bubble with a catchphrase, and there were arrows indicating how they'd attack. It was sloppy and had been done quickly, but Sora thought he got the point across. However, by that time, class was over and he wanted to blow off some steam. Yang had really gotten to him.

"Uh...class dismissed, I guess. See you tomorrow!" He ran off, and Yang watched him scurry away. She got up from her seat and chuckled. However, next to her, Weiss wasn't laughing.

"The nerve of that boy! That was the most unflattering drawing I have ever seen! And don't think I didn't see you taking pictures, Cardin! You had best pray you're not my sparring partner," she snarled. Cardin laughed it off and follow the rest of his team out of the classroom.

"I liked mine," Yang said.

"Of course you did," Weiss sighed, slipping past her teammates. Ruby followed, and Blake allowed Yang to pass before following her team.

"So, who do we have next? The fat guy or the high-on-coffee guy?" Yang asked nonchalantly.

"We have lunch," Blake answered.

"Lunch, huh?" Ruby asked mischievously.

"You ate all the cookies," Weiss reminded.

"What?!" Ruby exclaimed. The cloaked girl gave Weiss puppy-dog eyes, the eyes that so many strong souls had crumbled to. However, Weiss was not one of those people.

"You can't charm your way through everyone, Ruby. Try eating healthy for a change. I can share my salad, if you want."

"Salad? Sorry Weiss, but I don't eat anything green! Or gross. Or leafy. Unless it's candy." Yang poked her sister in the face, and Ruby turned into her finger, scrunching up her cheek.

"Shtop, Yang."

"I'm worried about your body! You could get fat! And then you wouldn't be my adorable little sister anymore! You'll just be my little sister, and then all the magic would be gone!"

"Don't we talk about this before every lunch period?" Blake asked, interrupting the two. Yang looked blankly at her.

"Then what do we talk about instead, huh?"

"We can eat, because we're at the cafateria!" Ruby charged off to get whatever dessert was available, and Yang followed hurriedly, eager to stop her.

"I'll save your seats," Weiss said. She'd made her own lunch today, having had a bad experience with cafeteria food a while back. The memory made her cringe. Blake nodded and hurried after Ruby and Yang.

* * *

Sora plopped down on the bed. Donald and Goofy were impatiently waiting for him, growing bored of being imprisoned in their quarters. He knew when he looked at their faces. Sora needed to talk to Ozpin; he couldn't keep his friends trapped like this, no matter what.

"Took you long enough! All we can do in here is talk and play board games!" Donald complained.

"Donald's really good!" Goofy exclaimed. Sora sighed.

"You weren't cheating again, were you, Donald?" He asked. The duck blushed before fervently denying that he did. Sora grinned triumphantly.

"O-Of course not!"

"Sure you weren't. Anyway, class was...interesting. I think I'm ready for my nap now."

"Ya have class planning to do, Sora," Goofy reminded.

"What about breaks!?" The spiky-haired teen asked.

"Weekends have no homework. That is the biggest break one will get at Beacon," Glynda said. Sora bolted up, surprised to see her walk in unannounced. Donald narrowed his eyes.

"If you came to scold us again, you can forget it, lady," he said. Glynda sighed.

"I realize I may not have been very hospitable towards you three, and I apologize. I'm not here to belittle you, I simply want to help you. Ozpin may think you can offer something to the students, but he knows you certainly cannot do it alone. As such, I will help you plan your classes," she said. Sora smiled widely.

"Thank you so much!" Sora ran up and gave Glynda a hug, or at least tried to. She stepped away and held out a hand.

"Oh, right. Handshakes only." Sora grasped her hand, startled by how tight her grip was. The two shook hands, and then Glynda sat down at a nearby desk and frowned at what she saw.

"Why is there saliva on this desk?" She asked, unamused.

"Sorry! I, fell asleep while we were planning for class," Goofy said boisterously. He was unashamed.

"Try not to do it again," Glynda said.

"Seconded," Donald added on. Goofy grinned.

"Anyway, what are we planning for again?" He asked. Glynda sighed in unison with Donald.

"You two have a lot in common," Sora teased. The two looked at each other and smiled slightly.

"I guess you're right," they said.

* * *

Sora was on his way to get some supplies for his next glass. As it turned out, Glynda was difficult to work for. She tolerated no funny business, only business. Sora couldn't even make a silly face without getting scolded for slacking off, which really put a damper on his work ethic. He had to resort to trading silly expressions with Goofy, and Donald even joined in eventually. However, the three couldn't keep it secret for long. To keep distractions at bay, Glynda decided to send Sora on a material run, something he was both relieved and disappointed to be on. He enjoyed leaving the stuffy room, but he was also, despite the her sternness, having fun working with Glynda. However, work was soon to be the furthest thing from his mind when he saw Yang walking down the hall, her arms behind her head in the same position Sora was in. he knew he shouldn't distract himself by talking to her and he knew Glynda would yell at him so hard his teeth would fall out, but he couldn't help himself. He hadn't had much time to see Yang since he started teaching.

"Hey!" he shouted.

"Hey yourself."

* * *

**IT'S BEEN A WHILE, BUT I GOT THE CHAPTER UP AND READY FOR READING AND CRITICISM! **

**IN OTHER NEWS, APPARENTLY SORA HAS GUN-KEYBLADES IN KH3. I SAW IT AFTER WATCHING THE TRAILER AND READING THE COMMENTS SECTION. AS IF KH3 WASN'T AWESOME ENOUGH. **


	6. Succumbing To The Pressure

Demyx's life hadn't gotten any easier since indirectly contacting Torchwick. There was nothing Demyx loved more than instant gratification (well, besides his sitar), and he wasn't getting it. Torchwick showed no signs of noticing or caring that he had been left an invitation, and the Nobody was left hiding from the authorities and living off whatever food he could steal. The news was calling him 'the sloppiest criminal of all time,' and he was losing hope in his mission, considering risking a return to the World that Never Was, only deciding against it when he thought of what Saix would do upon realizing Demyx had abandoned his mission. However, he had no idea that today was going to be his lucky, or perhaps unlucky, day. For, after all, today was the day he met Crimson. Well, that was what she was known as in the criminal underworld. Her true name was Cinder, and Demyx wasn't sure which name scared him more.

* * *

The flames were his first tip-off. Demyx saw a fire burning where it shouldn't, and he at first thought Axel had joined him.

"Axel?!" He called out hopefully. More fire was his answer. A massive column of it shot towards Demyx, and he dove out of the way.

"You are not Axel!" He shouted shrilly.

"No. No I'm not," a voice rang out. It was an alluring yet frightening female voice, and Demyx didn't want to find out who it belonged to.

"D-Don't kill me! I'm too pretty to die!"

"I won't kill you. I simply want to talk to you."

"A-About what?!"

"Roman Torchwick." Demyx, who was dancing his way away from the voice, hopping around and moving his arms like a mime in an invisible box, stopped. He raised an eyebrow quizzically in the direction of the voice.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"A friend of Torchwick's. You can be a friend of his too, if that's what you want."

"If I'm a friend of his, will you stop trying to cook me medium rare?"

"I was never trying to." Demyx sighed in relief and walked towards the voice. Out of the shadows stepped a woman in a striking red dress and lips that were curved into a beautiful but intimidating smile. Everything about her was dual-sided in its nature. On one hand, she was absolutely stunning, the kind of woman most people only saw in their dreams. On the other hand, she had an air of mystery around her, and that air was garnished with a healthy dose of terror. She was unreadable, and that terrified Demyx, not to mention her unnerving smile and burning yellow eyes.

"Uh, can you step back in the shadows again? I think I wet my pants," the Nobody said. The woman laughed harshly.

"Cut the act, Nobody. I know what you are." Demyx blinked in surprise, and then frowned.

"Nobody? That's not very nice. You really hurt my feelings!"

"You have no feelings. You have no heart, no essence, no Aura. You are, essentially, nothing in physical form. Don't play your games, I know your 'emotions' are all fake." At this, Demyx did nothing. He made no movements, no insulted gestures or expressions. Instead, he spoke simply as he put on his hood.

"I exist, right? Nothing is the absence of existence."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying you're wrong." The woman laughed.

"Regardless of what your true nature may be, Torchwick and I are interested in you." Demyx turned around.

"And why should I trust you? Why do your words matter?"

"Because they burn, Number Nine." The woman had piqued Demyx's attention more than ever. He had no idea how she knew about the Organization of its inner workings, but he knew that she was too dangerous to be kept running around. She could expose the Organization at a moment's notice, and it was then that Demyx knew he was trapped. He had to keep her off-guard. He had to let her play her game as they both tried to manipulate Torchwick, because there was no was she was simply a friend. She was the mastermind, Torchwick the pawn.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Take me to your leader," Demyx sighed. The woman looked slightly annoyed that he went back to portraying himself as more than a Nobody, but he was. Roxas and Axel weren't the only ones with feelings. He wasn't like the others.

* * *

"So...you seem busy," Yang said nonchalantly. Sora was leaning against the wall next to her, his arms crossed behind his head.

"I am. Being a teacher sucks! I mean, it's one thing to do homework; it's another thing to make it. I really need some sleep," Sora replied, yawning. Yang chuckled.

"Then why not slack off?" She asked. Sora blinked at her a few times, pushing himself off of the wall as Yang leaned back onto it.

"Are you serious?! Glynda would kill me. Well, first she'd yell at me. Then she'd kill me! I'm actually on an errand for her right now, and she could come around the corner any second, wondering where I've gone!" The blonde girl laughed at Sora's paranoia.

"Relax. Glynda's not that bad, you're just tired." After thinking about her words, Sora realized she was right.

"Yeah, I guess. Glynda's fun to work with, anyway. This is...it's just a lot of responsibility for me, and I've never been great at dealing with responsibility," the spiky-haired teen said wistfully. Yang put a hand on his shoulder.

"You're doing fine. Your classes have been great!"

"But what if they're not? What if I'm messing up? I...I don't want to mess up. So many people are counting on me...what if I let them down, Yang?" Sora sighed, looking down at the floor. Yang was surprised by his depression. She didn't think he could be brought down like this, but she supposed he was only human. He didn't have endless supplies of optimism.

"And you're gonna let them down if you keep worrying. How have to gotten to where you are today?" Yang asked.

"Uh...I believed in my friends?" Sora asked, wondering if he said the right thing.

"Bingo. You don't have to carry your burdens alone. You know that. You're just feeling the pressure, and it's getting to you. You did the right thing by talking to me, Sora. A good friend can always help you out." Sora looked up, his gaze shifting from the ground to Yang's face. He knew she was right. This wasn't his fight alone.

"Heh...sorry about that. It's just hard to keep smiling when you're so worried inside. This isn't just about the class, Yang. It's about the worlds. I've always been lazy. I've never really had a motivation, not like my friends." Sora thought of Riku, so determined to get off of Destiny Islands and see the world. Sora knew that he didn't share Riku's passion. He was just along for the ride.

"It's weird, suddenly having to decide what to do with responsibility when you've spent most of your life not worrying about consequences and choices. I just...didn't know what to do with my burden. Maybe I'm still deciding. I've never had to lead anyone before, Yang. I've never been a teacher. Saving worlds is one thing. Trying to teach them is another." Yang chuckled, putting an arm around Sora. Her smiling made him do the same.

"This really isn't like you, breaking down like this. Come on. Let's blow off some steam." Yang led the spiky-haired teen down the hallway, neither even thinking about Sora's task and Glynda's reaction when she found out he wasn't doing it. Sora was too happy. He didn't know what he'd do without his friends.

* * *

"So, Sora. This is team RWBY. There's our fearless leader, who you already know. This is Weiss, as you know. She's the wet blanket," Yang said.

"Hey!" Weiss protested.

"And this is Blake, who you might not know as well. She likes books," Yang said plainly, presenting her team to Sora. He waved, grinning. Ruby waved back kindly, Blake nodded, and Weiss wasn't even paying attention to him.

"What about you?" Sora asked Yang.

"You already know me." She walked to her team, and Sora followed.

"Wet blanket..." Weiss muttered. Sora looked around the cafeteria, wondering why Yang had brought him here.

"You must be wondering why you're here," Yang said mischievously.

"Wow. You must be psychic! That's exactly what I was wondering!"

"Well, you're here to blow off steam. We can't go off-campus today, but we can sit around and talk!"

"About what?" Sora asked.

"...Cute boys?"

"Like him?" Sora pointed to a blonde boy who was sitting with team RWBY, as well as three other students who were most likely part of his team. He had plain armor plating on his body and a sword in a sheathe at his side.

"Uh, no." Yang led Sora over, sitting him down across from both teams so as to allow them to scrutinize him.

"Hello, professor!" A red-haired girl said cheerily. Her hair was in a ponytail, and it stood out, like everything about her from her gold armor to her wise green eyes.

"Hey, student!"

"I'm Pyrrha Nikos. This is Lie Ren, this is Nora Valkyrie, and this is our team leader, Jaune Arc," Pyrrha introduced her friends with a wave of her hand. Ren was a boy with black hair that had an attractive magenta streak. He wore a long green coat-like pierce of clothing, and had a very mellow expression on his face. Nora was the exact opposite. She had bright orange hair, a pink skirt, and her body was constantly moving, her expression was a crazy grin. She seemed like she was on a permanent sugar rush.

"Hello," Ren said simply.

"Woah...do you know the answers to all the tests?" Nora asked. Sora shrugged.

"Your guess is as good as mine," he said, grinning.

"Hello, professor," Jaune said. Sora chuckled awkwardly.

"Uh, can you call me Sora? It'd be better for me."

"Sure." The two teams looked at their professor, and he looked at them. There was a strange silence going around the table.

"So...read any good books lately?" Sora asked.

"Yes. In fact, I'm reading one right now. It's quite fascinating," Blake replied. Sora grinned. He'd finally found a foothold in the conversation, and he was determined to use it to climb higher.

"What's it about?" He asked.

"A girl who wants to be left alone because a boy with spiky hair won't stop asking her questions," Blake replied.

"Really? Wow, it sounds familiar..." Sora mused.

"Yeah! Maybe the author time-traveled into the past and listened to this conversation and then traveled into the future and wrote the book!" Nora exclaimed.

"But then how would Blake have gotten it?" Ren asked with calm patience. Nora thought, making a noise that sounded like the buzzing of a bee. Yang burst out laughing, and Sora realized his foolishness a few seconds after Nora spoke.

"Hey!" He shouted angrily, peering over Blake's book. Blake glanced up at him, smiling.

"Sorry, I just couldn't resist."

"I'm a professor, you know. I can give you detention."

"Will you?"

"Eh, probably not." In front of Sora, Nora and Ren were arguing. Well, Nora was arguing. Ren said something every thirty seconds that made Nora make her buzzing concentration noise again. Jaune grinned sheepishly.

"How about that...uh...Heartless stuff, huh? Pretty crazy," he said.

"Yeah, pretty crazy..." Ruby chuckled.

"Help me out here, Pyrrha!" Jaune whispered to his friend. The conversation had no starting point, and it didn't seem to have a place to end.

"I'm as stuck as you are, Jaune," was the reply. Yang's head was buried in her hands, and Weiss wasn't even paying attention.

"Somebody suggest a topic already!" Yang shouted angrily, attracting attention from around the room.

"I should probably be getting back to my errand..." Sora said, slinking off. However, Yang grabbed his hood as he walked away, and he gagged before falling to the ground.

"We're going to talk and you're going to like it! Topics, now!" Yang announced. Weiss looked up.

"I think Sora should get back to his errands. If he wants my trust, he's going to have to earn it, and slacking off isn't earning him anything," she said.

"I like Weiss' idea," Sora said.

"No you don't! Look, I want to talk, so we're going to do that! Ruby, say something adorable and hilarious!" Yang shouted at her sister, who shirked in her seat.

"Uh...do I have to?"

"Yang, stop pressuring her," Pyrrha said gently.

"Then you do something!"

"We should be doing this when we have a topic in mind. It was nice-" Sora was stopped with a quick hand to the mouth. Yang covered his face with her hands and pulled him back to the table.

"You can't hold us hostage here, Yang!" Sora protested when she released his mouth from her hands.

"Then let's have a nice conversation so I don't have to!"

"You can't force conversation, Yang," Ren chimed in.

"Go back to talking with Nora, Ren."

"I'm just saying that that's not how conversation works."

"That's not how you work!"

"Nora, help me out here."

"Want me to break her legs, Ren?"

"Why did I even ask you?"

"Guys, how about we just let Sora go?" Jaune suggested.

"Shut up, Jaune!" Yang shouted. The blonde boy shrunk in his seat.

"Okay okay, let's keep him here," he said shrilly.

"Way to be a friend, Jaune," Sora muttered.

"She's scary!"

"So am I!" Jaune looked at Sora strangely, his eyes scrutinizing the spiky-haired teen's clothes and hair.

"Not really," Jaune told him.

"...Fine, you're right." As the two teams and Sora kept arguing, with Yang trying to intimidate a conversation to start out a of boredom, Jaune and Sora trying to sneak away, Ruby trying to calm down her sister, Weiss already having left, Blake having left as well, and Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren simply being caught in the crossfire. The noise was attracting a lot of attention and laughs, most of the student body pitying Sora for being the object of Yang's interest. However, they all dispersed when an unwelcome figure came in. As Sora and Jaune finally got away from the chaos of Yang's ramblings, they found themselves being dragged back by Glynda Goodwitch.

"What is the meaning of all this?!"

* * *

**I'M HONESTLY NOT SURE HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS CHAPTER. I LIKED BEING ABLE TO SHOW THAT SORA WASN'T COMPLETELY UNFAZED BY BEING A TEACHER. SORA, FOR ALL HIS HAPPY-GO-LUCKINESS, IS STILL A HUMAN BEING AND HAS HIS BREAKING POINT. AFTER ALL, TEACHING CAN'T BE A COMFORTABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR HIM. HOWEVER, NOW I FEEL I HAVE TO SHOW WHY OZPIN CHOSE HIM TO TEACH. I UNDERSTAND THAT OZPIN, AS HE HIMSELF SAID, MADE MANY MISTAKES, BUT I DO NOT BELIEVE SORA'S APPOINTMENT TO PROFESSOR AS ONE OF THEM (I RIPPED THAT LINE OFF FROM EPISODE 10 OF RWBY). HOWEVER, I FEEL LIKE IT KIND OF DERAILED AT THE END. I'M NOT SURE HOW FREQUENTLY I'LL BE UPLOADING MORE CHAPTERS, AS MOTIVATION FOR THIS STORY IS RUNNING DRY. I HAVE NO INTENTION OF CEASING TO WRITE IT, BECAUSE I DO LIKE IT, BUT I'M HAVING TROUBLE HOW TO CONTINUE THINGS FROM THIS POINT. ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE, AS ALWAYS, WELCOME. I ESPECIALLY WANT TO KNOW IF PEOPLE FELT YANG WAS OUT OF CHARACTER. I WANTED TO PORTRAY HER MORE AGGRESSIVE SIDE AND PUT EMPHASIS ON HOW POSSESSIVE SHE CAN BE OF SORA (AS I THINK YANG IS A POSSESSIVE PERSON, RELATIONSHIP-WISE. SHE'S NOT ALL CRAZY-YANDERE LIKE YUNO FROM MIRAI NIKKI, BUT I THINK IT WOULD BE FUNNY IF YANG WERE A BIT CONTROLLING IN HER RELATIONSHIPS AND TOOK THINGS MORE SERIOUSLY THAN A ONE-NIGHT STAND, AT LEAST FOR PEOPLE SHE REALLY LIKED). ALSO, FEEDBACK ON DEMYX WOULD BE NICE. I'M TRYING TO ADD SOME OF MY OWN OPINIONS REGARDING DEMYX'S CHARACTER INTO THIS STORY (LIKE I THINK THAT HE EITHER HAS FEELINGS LIKE ROXAS AND AXEL, OR WANTS TO BELIEVE HE DOES). I ALSO WANT TO KNOW HOW PEOPLE LIKED ME HAVING HIM TURN ALL COLD AND EMOTIONLESS LIKE HE DID IN KH2. IT WAS REALLY AWESOME WHEN HE DROPPED HIS ACT AND SAID 'SILENCE, TRAITOR.' THAT SURPRISED SORA AND SCARED ME!**

**ALSO, I LIKED SEEING MORE CRIMSON/CINDER IN EPISODE 16 OF RWBY. SHE'S BEAUTIFUL, CONNIVING, BADASS, AND TERRIFYING ALL AT THE SAME TIME, AND SHE SEEMS LIKE THE PERFECT MAIN ANTAGONIST OF RWBY, AT LEAST FOR NOW. SHE REALLY HAS TORCHWICK WRAPPED AROUND HER LITTLE FINGER, AND IT SEEMS LIKE SHE OUT-SCHEMED HIM, THE SCHEMER. ALSO, I WONDER WHO THOSE TWO PEOPLE BEHIND HER ARE, AND IF THEY'RE CONNECTED TO ANY OF THE PROTAGONISTS IN ANY WAY. I THINK CINDER KNOWS GLYNDA IN SOME WAY, PERHAPS AS A FELLOW STUDENT AT BEACON, BUT I HAVE NO PROOF, AND I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THEIR RELATIONSHIP WORKS. **


End file.
